Well www.saintscheapshops.com , this was hard to get through. The season wasn’t supposed to end this early, especially on a no-call as obvious as the pass interference and helmet to helmet hit on Tommylee Lewis. But alas, I have a job to do, and hopefully we can take some solace in knowing that we have a young team that should be competitive for years to come, with or without Drew Brees at the helm. Without further ado, the tape:The first touchdown came at the end of the first quarter on a staple play of many football teams throughout all levels of the game—the mesh concept. The mesh concept was created during the early days of the Air Raid offense by Lavell Edwards at BYU. The main part of this play are the two underneath crossing routes ran from receivers on opposite sides of the formation. The crossing routes are to be ran right on top of each other in order to create a natural rub. Here, Tre’Quan Smith (top of screen) and Garrett Griffin will run the crossers, with Griffin being the underneath receiver. Michael Thomas (top of screen, inside Smith) will run a corner route and fullback Zach Line will run a flat route. The corner, flat New Orleans Saints T-Shirt , and Griffin’s crossing route will create a triangular read for Drew Brees. His first read will be Thomas on the corner route, but he is covered. Next, he’ll move his eyes to Zach Line in the flat, who is also covered.His third read in the triangle will be Griffin, who is left wide open due to the rub created by the crossers. As you can see in the play above, Marcus Peters takes himself and safety John Johnson III out of the play when they collide into each other. This takes away Griffin’s trail man (Johnson) and he is able to keep running his route until Brees finds him for his first NFL touchdown. Garrett Griffin wasn’t the only Saints player to nab their first receiving touchdown in the NFL. Swiss army knife Taysom Hill was able to score a touchdown on a play that the Saints had used multiple times in the past—the shield screen.Typically this play will go to Michael Thomas, but here Payton designs it for Taysom Hill, who has the strength to break tackles near the goal line. The offense will come out in 11 personnel (1 running back, 1 tight end (Taysom Hill)) and a 2x2 set (2 receivers on each side of the formation). Brees will motion Hill across the formation which creates a trips look with three receivers towards the right side of the field.At the snap, receivers Austin Carr and Tre’Quan Smith will block for Hill New Orleans Saints Hats , thus creating the “shield” part of the play. Hill will take a step inside and Brees will quickly throw him the ball. Hill will now follow the blocks or “shield” of the other receivers and lower his shoulder to break Aqib Talib’s tackle attempt. While the blown call at the end of regulation could have changed the outcome of this game, it wasn’t the only missed opportunity for the Saints. Early in the first quarter, tight end Dan Arnold had a chance to put the team up by 7 points, which possibly could have made the missed pass interference call irrelevant. The offense comes out in shotgun with 11 personnel. Brees will motion Thomas from the outside to the slot, with corner back Talib following him and the safety cheating down to help double team the receiver. This leaves Arnold one-on-one with linebacker Mark Barron while he runs his seam route down the hash marks. Able to gain outside leverage, Brees puts the pass in the perfect spot for the tight end: high and outside. Arnold goes up and attempts to corral the pass, but is unable to secure it as he falls to the ground. The Saints will kick a field goal on the next play, gaining only three points instead of a possible seven. While this game will be in New Orleans folklore for years to come due to the no call, the team had opportunities to put the game away in other situations. This team is full of young players who will contribute for the foreseeable future, and while our draft picks are limited this year New Orleans Saints Hoodie , the draft class is deep at some positions of need.Saints Hoping to Knock Down the Defending Champion Eagles in Week 11 We’ll continue a series of opponent preview posts for the New Orleans Saints opponents in 2018. Next, we’ll finish that that “bunch of frauds” (s/o to our old pal John Sigler), the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. Our friends over at Bleeding Great Nation took some time to give us Saints fans the scoop a the reigning Super Bowl champs.Photo by Rich Schultz /Getty ImagesWeek 11: vs the Philadelphia EaglesNotable free agent additions:WR Mike Wallace, DT Haloti Ngata, LB Corey Nelson, (DE Michael Bennett - acquired through trade)Over/Under:10.5 wins -- Over. The reigning Super Bowl champions won 13 regular season games last year. They did this despite not having Carson Wentz, Jason Peters, Darren Sproles, Jordan Hicks, and Chris Maragos for all 16 games. The Eagles were able to overcome theses losses due to a combination of elite coaching by Doug Pederson Cheap Customized New Orleans Saints Jerseys , fantastic play in the trenches, and strong roster depth. The Eagles project to have these same strengths in 2018 so I wouldn’t bet against them.Most exciting rookie:I’m most excited about: TE Dallas Goedert (AKA Philly Goedert). Goedert measures in at 6-4, 260 pounds and boasts plus athleticism. He looked virtually unguardable in the red zone during spring practices this year. The Eagles already have one great tight end in Zach Ertz. The presence of Goedert could give Philly a new dynamic duo for Pederson to unleash on the league.Position battle to keep an eye on:The Eagles need to figure out what to do at nickel cornerback with Patrick Robinson leaving in free agency. It’s possible 2017 second-round pick Sidney Jones steps up in that role. He got the first look during OTAs. De’Vante Bausby, who spent last season on Philadelphia’s practice squad last year, also flashed during spring drills and might be the front-runner right now. Rookie fourth-round pick Avonte Maddox will throw his hat into the ring as well. It’s possible the Eagles could employ a rotation in the slot so there might not even be one true winner from this battle.Biggest storyline heading into training camp:Carson Wentz’s health status is the obvious answer here. The 25-year-old signal caller was having an MVP-caliber season before suffering an ACL tear in early December. From that moment, it was unclear if he’d be ready to start the beginning of the 2018 season. The good news is that Wentz’s recovery progress has been very encouraging. Some in the Eagles organization have described him as “shockingly ahead of schedule.” Wentz was a lot more involved in OTAs and minicamp than most expected him to be. He wasn’t participating in full team 11-on-11 drills, though, so that’s the next hurdle for him to clear. We’ll see how that goes in training camp. There’s definitely optimism that he’ll be ready to start in the NFL kickoff game on September 6.Under-the-radar storyline heading into training camp:Two of the Eagles’ biggest offseason departures took place in the coaching department. Former offensive coordinator Frank Reich is now the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and former quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo is now the Minnesota Vikings’ offensive coordinator. It’ll be hard to gauge the impact of losing them until the season starts but this is certainly something to keep an eye on. Notable injuries heading into training camp:The list is so long that it’s easy to forget someone. Wentz is coming off the ACL. Alshon Jeffery isn’t expected to be ready until around Week 1 as he recovers from a torn rotator cuff. Timmy Jernigan had offseason surgery on a herniated disc in his back and will likely end up on the NFI/PUP list. Haloti Ngata missed all of spring practices as he recovers from torn biceps. Super Bowl hero Brandon Graham had offseason surgery on his ankle. Jordan Hicks wasn’t able to fully participate in spring practices. Chris Maragos didn’t practice at all as he recovers from a PCL injury. Besides Jernigan, there’s hope most of these players will be ready by Week 1. But we’ll have to see how they progress during the summer. ***The Saints have a tough stretch with the Falcons, Eagles Josh Hill Jersey , Rams, and Vikings within a 5-week period. The Eagles will likely be one of the toughest match-ups all season.So what says you, you unbiased Saints fans? Can the Saints knock down the defending Champs, or will they get humbled in the Dome? Vote in the poll. Explain in the comments. And make sure you also check out DraftDividends.com, a website for a new book I’m writing currently titled Draft Picks and Dividends: A Fantasy Football Player’s Guide to Understanding the Stock Market. www.nflshopoutlet.com/jacksonville-jaguars